This weekend our water heater started to leak, so the plumber came (George). He is no longer a young man and we have had several conversations through the years about the lack of young plumbers. But, on this visit, George had a new apprentice, who just started this summer, after just graduating from High School. I told George that I was happy to see he had a new apprentice, but George said the chances of him sticking around are slim...

Several of my friends and family are what you could describe as high-achievers. Still, some of these high-achievers cross over into being workaholics too. In conversation with one of them recently, I mentioned that even Jesus took a day of rest every week (he took the Sabbath rest very seriously). The response of my friend was that Jesus didn’t have kids....

One of the results of my many years of working for the Catholic Church was that I have had hundreds of conversations with those who were thinking about pursuing jobs in Catholic ministries. I always wanted to let those I talked to know the good, and the not so good, about working for the Catholic Church as a lay person, because I wanted to help them make an informed decision.

The email she sent me was pretty blunt. A woman wanted to ask some questions about baptism, so she called her local parish. The parish worker who answered the phone was blunt and not very nice - NO! You can’t have your child baptized without being registered at the parish. There was no way around it. The woman was distraught....

If there is one thing that every good teacher knows, it's that a lecture is one of the worst ways to teach. The first problem is that the students are passive. They are not engaging with the material, but are mostly downloading information, little of which will be retained. The second is that little of the information actually transforms the students into active learning. ​​​​​​​Now, let us translate this knowledge to evangelization and discipleship.

"Timing is everything" is a common phrase and there is a lot of truth to it. If I had met my wife 24 hours earlier than I did, she would have had nothing to do with me. Because we met the same night that I had my primary conversion. Before that, I was a wild college kid and she wouldn't have had anything to do with me. God knew what he was doing there. He also knows what he is doing in terms of reforming the Church in the USA. We are at a pivotal moment.

Disciples make other disciples. Disciples help other disciples mature . Programs can be avenues for these things to happen, but they still rise and fall based on people! Jesus didn't have a program, but he still had a mission, a vision, and a strategy. It is ok to use programs, as long as...

In the times of the Bible, one of the worst disasters that could befall someone was to be barren (infertile) physically. In fact, it is a major theme of Scripture, to see how someone (or a couple) who was once infertile, has had their situation changed by God and has now gained their fertility. In each reference to infertility, in Scripture...

My teen years were in the late 80s & early 90s. I used to wear Vans and had long bangs (both have made a comeback). I lived those years in a constant search of being relevant and cool with my peers. In some ways I achieved my goal.

Think of the last time you visited another parish for the first time. Did you know where to park? Did you find your way around easily? Did you feel welcomed? Were you a bit nervous? What was positive about the experience and what was negative?

“A budget is a theological statement” -Cardinal Tobin When this was said at the Convocation of Catholic Leaders last summer, it resulted in an explosion of applause and cheers. It is also very true. What we spend our money on tells us what we value, at the core. But, that isn’t the only statement of what we believe (and value) we can make. We also do it with time, staffing, and more.

One of the major (and fatal) flaws of many pastoral leaders in the Catholic Church is the failure to properly empower others to do pastoral ministry alongside them. There are many excuses and reasons why this happens, but rather than focus on those, I want to look at the need to empower others and the results when we do.

Whether you know it or not, there is something that affects every day of your life. It is your worldview. A worldview tells us not only how people think about the world, life, truth, goodness, meaning, etc., but it also plays the main role in our underlying assumptions - and many assumptions which are not explicitly thought about. Ultimately, a worldview...

When I was in college, I took several semesters of archery. I really loved shooting arrows at targets, but what ultimately won me over was the nature of archery; you immediately know how you are doing, based on where you hit the target. Still, there was one time that I hit a bulls eye, which scored a zero because I was aiming at the wrong target! In some ways ministry is like archery...

If you wanted to build a tower, would you start to do build it without a plan? Maybe because you know some elements of what a good tower should have, you just start piecing them together, without a blueprint or a study if it will work. No? Probably not. Yet, this is how most parishes operate. Without a clear plan on how to build disciples.

The reality of most Catholic parishes - we are stuck in a culture of comfort, ease, status quo, and administration of the decline of our numbers - will not be easy to change. No one program, event, new idea, tweeking of old ways, conference, gimmick, or online video series will change our parishes. Rather, it takes...

I still remember the most welcoming church I ever walked into. I was greeted at the door, then 2 steps into the door, then again and again and again. At least 2 dozen people didn't recognize me, so they sought me out. Most of them didn't just say "hi", but...

Simply put, being a disciple of Jesus isn't about behavior modification. If that were the case, we are pretty hopeless, because I don't know anyone who is sinless. Yet, how often does our Catholic culture push behavior modification as the goal of our faith? Too often. In fact...

If you have ever read a book on leadership, taken a class, or just perused a leadership website, you have seen lots of hands-on practical advice for leaders. But, what isn't quite as common is what leaders need to stop doing to be successful. In fact...

I have a pretty accurate internal GPS. That means, when I think I know where I am going, I generally don't look at a map or have a guide (aka - my phone). Of course, that means there are times I have missed turns, gotten lost, and had to seek help (aka - my phone). Discipleship can be that way too...